Editing Interpreter (computing) (section)

=== Threaded code interpreters ===
{{main|Threaded code}}
Threaded code interpreters are similar to bytecode interpreters but instead of bytes they use pointers. Each "instruction" is a word that points to a function or an instruction sequence, possibly followed by a parameter. The threaded code interpreter either loops fetching instructions and calling the functions they point to, or fetches the first instruction and jumps to it, and every instruction sequence ends with a fetch and jump to the next instruction. Unlike bytecode there is no effective limit on the number of different instructions other than available memory and address space. The classic example of threaded code is the [[Forth (programming language)|Forth]] code used in [[Open Firmware]] systems: the source language is compiled into "F code" (a bytecode), which is then interpreted by a [[virtual machine]].{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}